BLANTYRE--Malawians should brace for difficult times ahead as the government is failing to recover the country’s economy, Mark Katsonga, President of the Peoples Progressive Movement has warned. In a statement issued on Thursday in reaction to government’s economic recovery plan, Katsonga says the government has failed Malawians on governance and economic issues.

On Tuesday Economic Planning Minister Atupele Muluzi and Minister of Information Moses Kunkuyu held a briefing where they highlighted government’s economic plan with expected results in 18 months. But Katsonga observes that the plan is not clear on what government is doing to get Malawians out of the economic challenges.

“Malawians expected to hear a clear plan government has to mitigate the suffering in these hard economic times but the ministers failed to come out clearly on what government is doing to get Malawians out of the economic challenges,” he observes.

Among the challenges the PPM leader is asking the government to address are low wages, rising of commodity prices, fuel shortages, strikes, reduction of the bloated cabinet and dismissal or redeployment of the presidential jet.

Of late there have been calls and suggestions that the government should sale the costly Mercedes Benz and the presidential bought the during the era of late president Bingu wa Muntharika but the government is position is no known.

He further observes rampant corruption, rising crime, arbitrary arrests, unfair dismissals, the outstanding determination of section 65, among others, will compel donors to withhold their aid to Malawi. “The devaluation and introduction of the automatic fuel pricing adjustment policy alone is disastrous to an economy which is not stable like ours,” further adds Katsonga. He however admits that government can’t address all these hiccups overnight and says there should be capacity, ability and political goodwill in the cabinet to ably implement President Joyce Banda’s vision.
---
©2012 The Maravi Post. Reproduction without acknowledgment prohibited.

Add attachment